Fed up residents have called on a parish council to stop hundreds of cyclists clogging up a footpath in their village.

Disgruntled villagers in Remenham, near Twyford, say cyclists using a towpath which runs alongside the River Thames are a danger to pedestrians.

Mike Dudley, who lives in Remenham, raised the issue at the annual parish meeting on Tuesday, May 10.

He said: “I have lived here for about 15 years and tonight when I walked out of my house I saw a sign that says public footpath.

“A public footpath is for people on foot and there’s no right to ride a bicycle on it. But in the walk between here and Temple Island tonight I saw 20 to 40 cyclists going one way or another.

“A few were rowing coaches but most of them were recreational.”

Part of the towpath is a section of the 184-mile Thames Path National Trail which starts at the Cotswolds and runs through London.

The Thames Path National Trail website notes that: “The Thames Path National Trail is not a long-distance route for cyclists.

“Most of the Thames Path is a public footpath on which cyclists have no legal right to ride unless they have permission from the landowners.”

Mr Dudley said there are usually around 100 cyclists using the path on Sundays and he called on the parish council to take action against them.

He said: “By and large the rowing coaches are quite good but I do not think it’s right that pedestrians should walk down here and continually step aside for cycles.”

Another resident at the annual parish meeting said: “I have 300 yards of towpath outside my house and when we moved in we understood that the rowing coaches cycled on the path because otherwise they could not keep up with the rowers.

“When I was a lad I used to cycle from London to Inverness on the main roads and it was perfectly safe.

“The problem we have got now is there’s so much traffic on the road that reasonable people think it’s safer and better to use the towpath.

“I think this is a national issue which is particularly bad here because it’s a rural part of the country so people do come here and cycle.”

Councillor John Halsall, chairman of Remenham Parish Council, said the matter would be taken up at the next meeting and discussed by councillors.